Casper Man Gets 18-36 Months for Failure to Register as Sex Offender

A Casper man who in June admitted to robbing two local businesses late last year was sentenced to prison time Tuesday morning in a separate criminal case.

District Judge Thomas Sullins sentenced 40-year-old Levar Ellis Thompson to a prison term of 18-36 months for failure to register as a sex offender. Thompson entered a guilty plea in the case earlier this year.

The sentence was jointly recommended by both the prosecution and public defender Curtis Cheney as part of a plea agreement.

Thompson is set to be sentenced next Thursday in a separate case before District Judge Catherine Wilking. In that case, prosecutors will recommend that Thompson receive 20-30 years in prison on each of two counts of aggravated robbery. The sentences for each count would run concurrently with one another, and concurrently with the 18-36 month sentence handed down Tuesday.

Prosecutors say in late December, Thompson brandished a BB gun at Wyoming Hot Wings and the Big D on East 12th Street, demanding money from an employee in each incident.

Investigators with the Casper Police Department used several tips submitted via Crimestoppers to identify Thompson as the suspect. He was arrested Jan. 21 as he tried to leave the Ramkota.

In the robbery case, prosecutors slapped Thompson with the 'habitual criminal' label, which meant he was looking at up to life in prison on each count. Assistant District Attorney Dan Itzen later amended the charges, reducing the habitual criminal penalty to 10-50 years.

Wyoming law allows prosecutors to charge a defendant as a habitual criminal when the defendant has previously been convicted of felony charges in three separate cases. Thompson's previous felony convictions include felony possession of cocaine, larceny by bailee and third-degree sexual assault.

"I've come a long way since January," Thompson told Sullins when given the opportunity to speak during Tuesday's sentencing hearing. "I accept full responsibility for not registering."